Canada falls to Mexico, will play U.S. for 3rd place in Nations League

Canada's men's national soccer team couldn't capitalize on a golden opportunity Thursday, falling 2-0 to Mexico in the semifinals of the CONCACAF Nations League.

Raul Jimenez recorded both goals for the Mexicans, opening the scoring 46 seconds into the contest and then sealing the victory at SoFi Stadium with a sensational free-kick in the 75th minute.

El Tri will now take on surprise finalist Panama in Sunday's title game after the latter stunned the reigning champion United States in the first semifinal earlier in the night at the same venue.

The Canadian men, still without a trophy since the 2000 Gold Cup, will have to settle for a third-place match against the Americans.

Jesse Marsch's team got off to the worst possible start Thursday, conceding the opening goal before many fans even sat down.

A scrappy sequence of play, which started from a Canadian throw-in, led the ball to bounce off multiple defenders and fall to Jimenez's feet inside the penalty area. The Fulham striker made no mistake, calmly slotting the ball into the bottom corner and sending the pro-Mexican crowd in Inglewood, California wild.

Marsch and Canada were incensed later in the half when referee Hector Said Martinez and the VAR didn't award a penalty for what appeared to be a clear foul by Edson Alvarez on Derek Cornelius.

The on-field official wasn't even instructed to review the incident on the monitor despite replays showing Alvarez kicking the bottom of Cornelius' foot inside the penalty area.

"What I think is inexcusable ... is that it's not at least looked at by the head referee, right? First it's called a foul in the other direction which is strange, because we clearly get contact first," Marsch said after the match, according to Joshua Kloke of The Athletic. "But for me, this is the definition of a penalty."

That incident, and the fury it incited, only added to the chaotic atmosphere on the pitch, as five yellow cards were dished out in the first half to go along with 25 total fouls.

Canada, despite needing to push for an equalizer coming out of the halftime interval, generated little up front, failing to consistently put the Mexican defense under pressure. The Canadians finished the feisty affair with one shot on target en route to only their fourth loss in 14 games under Marsch.

Jimenez's curling free-kick in the 75th minute put the contest beyond doubt.

Mexico wisely killed the rhythm of the match, and the clock, after taking the 2-0 advantage, as a host of Canadian substitutes failed to turn the tide.